The first is a yes / no question about your preferences. If I ask: Do you like coffee?

You will tell me: “Yes, I do,” or “No, I don’t.”

In contrast, the question “What is coffee like?” is asking you to describe (or tell me about) coffee. You will answer: It is brown. It tastes bitter. We often sweeten it with sugar. It gives us energy.

Notice that we NEVER use the word like in the answer to the second question. We do not say: “It is like brown. It is like bitter.”

Let’s practice more.

If I ask: Do you like soccer? You will answer “Yes or No.”

If I ask: What is soccer like? You will answer “It is popular all around the world. It is a sport played on a field with a round ball. A soccer game lasts 90 minutes. Each team has eleven players on the field at the same time.

If I ask: Did you like school when you were young?

You will answer: “Yes, I did” or “No, I didn’t.”

If I ask: What was your school like?

You will answer: It was a big, red brick building. It had 150 children in it. It was old. It was fun.